Identity
by outofmind4416
Summary: Sasuke and Naruto are participants in a five month mental health study for their university for a semester's worth of university credit. The experience turns out to be something that nobody, not even the people in charge, expected. Rated M for language and dark themes. OOC, AU, dark, some OCs. NOT yaoi.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

* * *

Tsunade groaned as she stood up, her knees cracking three times as she straightened them. The wind blew gently above her, swirling down more aggressively into her garden, and she exhaled as she took her gloves off. The sun was directly above her and she had to squint even though she was looking down at her plants. She took in a harsh breath and then let it out just as quickly. "It's too peaceful."

She turned her heel and headed through the only door in and out of the garden. Through the door was a large storage room, where there were shelves lining the walls from floor to ceiling on both sides. They were stuffed with boxes except for a small area right by the door, where Tsunade set her gloves. On the wall space that wasn't covered in shelves, there were two big doors, one to her left and one to her right.

Lifting the bottom of her shirt slightly, she pulled an ID card from her right pocket and walked toward the big metal door to her right. She scanned the card and waited for the blue light to flash three times before the door opened.

Tsunade walked over to the left wall. She slipped her shoes off and changed her clothes from the khaki gardening ones to green scrubs and plain white shoes. She then picked up a white lab coat and slipped it on over the scrubs. She went to the right wall and lowered her hands into the large white sink. The water made her shiver at first but it warmed up as she scrubbed her arms and her hands before drying them off on the towel by the sink. Once she was done, she started to head down the hallway.

The hallway was wide and had ceilings that were ten feet high. To her right were more shelves and boxes with the same sense of order as in the storage room, and to her left were alternating doors and windows. She stopped at the third door after hearing faint screaming coming from the other side of it. She rolled her eyes and speed walked toward the window, and once she was close enough, she opened the curtain.

The first thing she saw was the color red. Not much of a surprise there, but still, it was _everywhere._ She noticed a tall and pale figure standing in the center of the room, hovering over a patient, who screamed and moved his head back and forth in pain because that was the only thing that could move. There were new fountains of blood spilling to the sides of the tall figure and on the walls, artistically splattering and dripping to the floor. The patient's black eyes lit up hopefully as he met Tsunade's eyes, but Tsunade looked away. The patient's eyes closed as he returned to screaming.

The tall figure noticed the patient looking toward the window, and he turned around to see Tsunade glaring at him. He nodded at her, and she nodded back, walking to the door and opening it slowly. Tsunade loved her garden, but she felt much more at home in rooms like these. The scent of blood woke her up better than fresh air ever could and she took a deep breath before meeting the eyes of the pale figure, a frown settling on her face.

"Wow, you've obviously been busy this morning. I expect you to clean this up. And don't even think about asking Kabuto to do it for you this time. I'm keeping him occupied on the third floor." Tsunade said, walking around to the side of the table where the patient was now wheezing quietly, blood dripping over the sides of the multiple wounds on his stomach. Half of his guts had been pulled out, and some ribs were pulled out by Orochimaru's hand. His eyes fluttered lazily and his fingers twitched, trying to reach out for something before falling silent and becoming motionless.

Orochimaru smiled and nodded. "Of course I'll clean it up." His smile grew wider. "Have the new participants arrived yet?"

"I'll send Yamato to speak with you once we process their information. You get ten picks, and half of them must be girls." Orochimaru was more pleased with the first bit of information than the second bit, and Tsunade noticed and continued. "I've told you before that we cannot conduct proper experiments when our subjects die during day one. Try to keep them alive. It's more fun that way, you know that."

Orochimaru nodded again and removed his blood stained lab coat. He set it over the dead patient's legs and looked down at his purple scrubs, noticing that there was also blood on them. "I need to change scrubs… Oh, how is Jiraiya doing?"

Tsunade looked back at the door and shrugged. "I haven't checked on him yet."

"I can do it for you, if you'd like."

Tsunade shook her head immediately. "I'll do it. I just need a drink first."

Orochimaru laughed lightly. "There are a few new bottles in your room. I had Genma pick some up last night while you were doing paperwork."

"Thank you, Orochi."

Orochimaru nodded and watched Tsunade leave the room, closing the door quietly behind her. He sighed and turned toward the dead patient again, putting new gloves on. "You weren't as weak as the others. I like when you idiots put up a fight."

Tsunade walked back the way she came, only removing her lab coat before scanning her card at the bulky door again. She walked through it, past her shelves and boxes, and scanned her card again at the other bulky door.

This time, she wasn't greeted with scrubs and sinks, but rather a giant library (roughly 120 by 30 feet) that lead up to a small spiral staircase and her bedroom at the far end. Her eyes traced the fourth shelf of books until she got to the stairs, then her eyes shifted to her own hands, trembling against the railing.

She opened the door to her bedroom and went straight to the mini bar in the corner, smirking at the new case of sake sitting on top of her sink that wasn't there when she woke up that morning. Her hands stopped shaking once she gulped down the third cup of sake, and sat down at the edge of her bed with a sigh. "Jiraiya…"

Tsunade stood up after a few minutes of silence, staring at the electrical outlet on the wall, and she put the cup she had been drinking out of and the bottle of sake back on her mini bar. She went back down the spiral staircase and stood in front of another door, not as bulky as previous ones but one that she had to scan her ID card to get through.

ID card in hand, she took in a sharp breath and shook her head. She scanned the card right as she exhaled, and let her arm fall limp to her side again as the door opened and she headed inside.

* * *

Sasuke frowned as he approached the medical building with the other 99 participants in the study. He signed up for it because he would get 18 credit hours without having to do classes, and he was ready for the much needed break. Five months of letting doctors stare at him would be annoying, but less annoying than school.

He looked around the courtyard as the group was led into it. Green grass, rows of flowers, coffee colored benches, and light cement sidewalks. He looked up at the building, noticing for the first time that it was only four floors high, even though it looked at least six floors high from the other side of the campus. _Tall ceilings, I guess._

The group came to a halt as they reached the center of the courtyard. Sasuke was taller than most of the people in the group, so he didn't have to stand on his toes to see the group of ten people in lab coats standing before the group, doing what he guessed was splitting them into smaller, more manageable groups.

He stood in place for two minutes before a woman with pink hair approached him. "Good morning. Name?" She asked impatiently. Her eyes jumped around Sasuke's face as she tapped her pen on her clipboard.

"Sasuke." Sasuke replied.

The pink haired woman read the list and found his name near the bottom. "Uchiha?" Sasuke nodded. She scanned the crowd with knit brows but her face relaxed slightly when she found who she had been looking for.

"There is a man over there with brown hair and a spiky ponytail. See him?" She pointed to the left side of the courtyard and Sasuke nodded again. "He'll be your group leader. Go stand by him, and when the groups are all together, we'll give you the details of how your next five months will be spent."

Before Sasuke could thank her, she had sped off to another participant. Sasuke rolled his eyes and spotted his 'group leader' again, this time moving toward him. As he got closer, he noticed a scar across the man's nose. The corner of his mouth twitched as he stared at it. _How did he get it?_

He almost tripped over some flowers as he approached the man, effectively breaking his focus and making him feel like an idiot for tripping over flowers. He noticed five other boys standing by the 'group leader' and tried to recognize him. There was one with spiky brown hair and red tattoos on his face, one with red hair and heavy black eyeliner, two identical twins with bleached blond hair, and one with yellow spiky hair.

Sasuke recognized the one with heavy black eyeliner, but once he saw the yellow haired boy, he forgot to greet him. The yellow haired boy had scars on his face, and they looked like jagged whiskers. Before he knew it, Sasuke was standing right in front of the boy, leaning very close to his face trying to get a better look. _They aren't recent…_

"Can I help you?" The yellow haired boy asked, stepping back and looking at Sasuke with a concerned look. His hands were in his pockets and his eyes were bright blue.

Sasuke realized what he was doing and also stepped back. "S-sorry, I d-didn't mean to… I…" Sasuke closed his mouth and shook his head, looking down at the cement. He didn't want to ask him about the scars, it could be a touchy subject.

The other boy wiped the look off of his face and asked, "You what?" Sasuke looked up and opened his mouth again to say something, but the 'group leader' returned with the remaining four people in their group.

"Welcome everyone. I am Iruka, your group leader." Iruka began, looking at each person in his group and lingering on the yellow haired boy. "You will meet with me, in this group, once a week. In addition to the weekly group meetings, there will be daily therapy sessions."

The twins and Sasuke rolled their eyes, all thinking the same thing: _Therapy every day? Shit._ Iruka continued. "Now when I read your name, raise your hand. Kiba and Nathan?" The boy with the red tattoos raised his hand, as well as one of the other boys that walked behind Iruka earlier. "You're roommates. Topher and Gaara?" One of the blond twins and the boy with the eyeliner raised their hands. "Good, Ari and Micah?" A preppy looking boy by Iruka and the other twin raised their hands. "Sasuke and Naruto?" Sasuke raised his hand, and the boy with the yellow hair raised his. They looked at each other briefly and the yellow haired boy smiled at him. "Last, Danny and Frederick?" The last two boys by Iruka raised their hands and gave each other high fives. Sasuke rolled his eyes.

"You will be close with your roommates, so keep an open mind and don't be a dick. You cannot switch. If there is a serious problem, the only thing you can really do is spend more time in activities." Iruka continued, flipping a page on his clipboard. "Now, I don't believe you know much about what the next five months will be like. We will study you closely as you either sample new medication, or do our deprivation studies. Nate, Gaara, Micah, Naruto and Frederick will be sampling the medication. Kiba, Topher, Ari, Sasuke and Danny will be doing the deprivation studies. This is another thing you cannot switch." Iruka smirked slightly, flipping another page.

"There are two beds, two windows and a door in each room. One window faces the outside world, to maintain your sanity, whereas the other is a one-way observation window. Try not to get paranoid about not knowing when you are being observed because it'll mess with our results. I'm sure you will all be preoccupied with other things. Any questions so far?"

Sasuke noticed Iruka smirk again. Sasuke raised his hand, and once Iruka met his eyes, he put his hands in the belt loops of his pinstriped pants. "What are the deprivation studies? What exactly will we be deprived of?"

Iruka put the papers back on his clipboard and held it to his side. "I apologize, but I have not been given specifics. Most of their studies revolve around identity and personality. Some unconscious studies every so often, but it's mostly the first two."

Sasuke nodded and looked up at the building again. "Anything else?" Iruka asked the group. They all shook their heads. Iruka looked around and nodded at a few other group leaders before moving up the sidewalk to the main doors.


	2. Chapter 2

Iruka's group was in front of all the other groups, and Sasuke felt people stepping on his heels as they were all shuffled inside. He also felt tugs at the bag he was carrying over his shoulder. The air conditioning in the place was freezing, and Sasuke barely suppressed a shiver. Next to him, Naruto chuckled.

"Something funny?" Sasuke asked, feeling a little pissed off for his heels hurting.

Naruto paused and thought about his response as he looked Sasuke up and down. Sasuke took the moment to do the same. Naruto's dark red shirt, grey pants and black backpack contrasted with his yellow hair and blue eyes. "Where are you from?"

Sasuke replied, "Konohagakure, and you?"

"Mount Myoboku." Naruto said proudly.

"I've never heard of it."

"That's a shame." Naruto clicked his tongue and Sasuke noticed his tongue was pierced.

The noise around them started quieting down and both Sasuke and Naruto looked around to see why that was. Eventually, Sasuke spotted Iruka's spiky ponytail and headed toward him. Naruto followed Sasuke closely, which Sasuke tried not to think about. Iruka looked relieved to see them.

"We're heading this way." Iruka said before walking to the left.

The same group from earlier followed Iruka through a large metal door and then they took a right turn down a fairly long hallway. After that, there were two shorter right turns and they found themselves in a room with a large table in the middle and a bunch of chairs surrounding it. The lights were bright and the walls were a pale blue color.

"Take a seat wherever you'd like." Iruka said, sitting in the chair right by the door. Naruto took the seat to the left of Sasuke, who sat right by Iruka. Gaara sat across from Sasuke and for the first time noticed him in his group. He nodded at Sasuke and Sasuke nodded back. The twins sat to the right of Gaara, Kiba sat by Naruto, and the rest of the group just took the random seats that were left. All of them set their bags on the floor under their feet.

"We'll be meeting in this room once a week. The room number is 1-013. First floor, thirteenth room down. Our meetings are on Wednesdays at nine in the morning. As for daily therapy sessions, those are every day starting at 10 and ending at 4. You will have an hour long lunch break from 12 to 1, which means four of you meet here before lunch, and the other six meet with me after lunch. That means the therapy sessions are only half an hour long." Iruka explained. "That room is 1-024, which you'll find if you keep following the hallway."

He stood up and passed out binders to everybody in the group. Naruto opened his before anybody else, and Sasuke watched Iruka sit back down before opening his. "This binder includes your schedule for the whole five months of the experiment, including which daily therapy time block you have. Now, assuming everything goes according to plan, you can expect to follow this schedule closely. But for now, it's just an outline. In your rooms, there will be a place to put these. You'll need to bring them everywhere you go."

"What's the notebook for?" Kiba asked, pulling out a notebook from one of the pockets of the binder.

Iruka smiled politely and answered, "It's to journal your experiences on the medication and with the deprivation studies."

"So, we have group therapy, individual therapy, and we have to keep a journal?" Naruto asked, flipping through his binder and looking over the schedule. When he didn't get an immediate answer, he looked up at Iruka, who was watching him analytically.

"Exactly. Journals don't have to be written in every day. But the goal is to write at least three entries per week." Iruka looked at the rest of the group. "Once you fill up a notebook, you will give it to us, and we'll give you a new one."

"What if we have shitty handwriting?" Ari, the preppy boy who was sitting by Kiba, asked.

"It doesn't matter, just do your best." Iruka dismissed. The door behind Iruka creaked open and he spun around. A man with a forehead protector that framed his face, and Naruto noted, scary looking eyes, filled the doorway.

"Iruka, I need to speak with you for a moment." He said. He looked a little nervous, judging by how the way his hands were shaking. In his left hand, he held a clipboard similar to the one Iruka and the pink haired lady were holding earlier. But on his list, he had a few names highlighted with purple highlighter ink.

Iruka obediently followed the man outside and shut the door behind him. A minute later, Iruka returned and the other man stayed outside the door. Iruka looked at the twins. "You two. Topher and Micah Izzari, you'll need to go with Yamato."

The twins looked around and stood up hesitantly. Iruka smiled reassuringly, "It's alright. Come on." They walked around the table and followed the man down the hallway.

Iruka closed the door after they left and Kiba spoke up again. "What was that about?"

"You ask a lot of questions." Iruka responded. "Don't worry about it." Sasuke and Naruto exchanged glances, both thinking, 'I'm glad I didn't have to go with that creepy guy.'

"Now, I'm going to take you all to your rooms to get settled in. Once you're there, you'll be changing into different clothes. You'll have three sets of clothes to rotate for the day, for sleep, and for exercise. Laundry rooms can only be used by me and other group leaders, so let us know when you need things washed." Iruka explained. "Now lets go up to the second floor, shall we?"

The group grabbed their bags and binders and followed Iruka out of the room, back down to the long hallway, and up a set of stairs. Sasuke noticed other groups of participants with different colored binders than the ones Iruka's group had. Once on the second floor, Iruka led them through a complicated set of right and left turns before showing up at the end of a hallway on what Sasuke assumed was the complete other side of the building.

"My room is this one, 2-087." Iruka said, tapping the door right by the part of the wall he was leaning against. "Across from my room is Sasuke and Naruto's room, 2-086." Iruka opened the door and motioned for them to go inside, sending one more weird look at Naruto before moving on.

"Gaara gets his own room until Topher comes back, and so does Ari until Micah comes back." Iruka said, his voice filled with something Sasuke could not place. "Gaara is in room 2-085, by me, and Ari is one down from him in 2-083."

"Kiba and Nathan are in 2-084, and Danny and Frederick are in 2-082." Iruka finished, unlocking all of the doors and letting everyone inside. As he walked back to his room, he explained, "Now on your beds you will see three sets of clothes and a wristband. The white wristbands are for the deprivation studies. So that means, Kiba, Sasuke, Ari and Danny need to put the white bands on. The rest of you put the black bands on. This is how we identify which study you are in. To get back into your rooms later, you'll need to scan your wristband at the door."

Naruto looked at both beds and walked over to the one with the black wristband. He also checked the sizes of the clothes, pleased to find that his clothes were the right size. He looked over his shoulder at Sasuke, fitting his wristband over his hand and looking at it curiously. "What exactly do we scan?"

Naruto walked over and showed Sasuke a small square of metal on the seam of the wristband. "Huh." Sasuke concluded. He picked up one of the sets of clothes and closed the door so they could change. Sasuke changed his pants first, sitting on the edge of the bed to pull his boots off.

Noticing how much Sasuke was struggling with his boots, Naruto offered, "Do you need help with that?"

"Nope." Sasuke shook his head. He got the boots off eventually and then worked on getting the skinny jeans off. "What's your major?"

"Film Studies and Communications. I doubled up." He pulled his shirt off and pulled the new one on over it as Sasuke folded up his jeans and set them on the corner of the bed. Naruto noticed how skinny Sasuke looked and questioned whether or not he actually ate food.

"Hn." Sasuke replied. "I'm a History major."

Naruto couldn't help but cringe a little. "Well, good luck with that. Are you a Freshman?"

"I would have been, but I skipped a grade. Sophomore." Sasuke said as he changed shirts. Naruto concluded that no, Sasuke probably didn't eat food after seeing his chest.

"I'm a junior. Also skipped a grade." Naruto changed shorts and tossed his clothes on the floor.

"Why did you sign up for this thing?"

Naruto reached up and scratched the back of his head and grinned. "I don't know, it sounded interesting. What about you?"

"I need a break, but I'm not allowed to go home."

"Why not?" Naruto asked.

"I'm just not allowed to. It's stupid." Sasuke glared at the corner of Naruto's bed, but looked up when he saw Naruto sit on the edge of it.

"It's alright." Naruto smiled. "We'll have fun with this. I wonder what kind of medication I'll get."

Sasuke sent a small smile back but something about how Iruka acted when that Yamato guy showed up freaked him out.

* * *

Orochimaru took the elevator down to the third floor and headed down the hallway to room 3-A. There were ten unconscious participants lined up, alternating boys and girls, in beds next to a few monitors. He hummed happily as he checked their vitals, and made small notes on his clipboard by each name. He always did this because he liked the ideas that came into his head right when he first set his eyes on them. He always knew what he wanted to do.

Of course, it was disappointing that he had to choose between the Uchiha boy and the Izzari twins, but he didn't doubt his choice in the end. As he made notes by the Izzari twins' names, he could not stop writing. It had been a while since he saw identical twins show up on his list.

Yamato walked in as Orochimaru made final notes on his clipboard. Orochimaru turned around and smiled at Yamato. "Good work, Yamato, it appears that everybody is ready."

"Which one will you start with, sir?"

"Let's get rid of the girls first." Orochimaru suggested, pointing to one of the girls at the far end of the line. Yamato nodded and walked down to the one he was pointing at, and wheeled her out of the room and down the hall.

Orochimaru sent one final look at each of his test subjects and grinned as he followed Yamato down the hallway.


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

* * *

Naruto reached over to his binder and flipped through the first few pages until he got to the schedule.

"What's the first thing on the schedule?" Sasuke asked, noticing what Naruto was looking at.

"Well it's around 9:30 right now, so I guess our first thing is individual therapy at ten."

Sasuke pulled out his binder and flipped to see which therapy time he had. "I go at 10:30. When is yours?"

"Way later." Naruto sighed. "3:30. I'm last."

Sasuke flipped through a few more pages, for the first time really looking at the content. "Look at all of these activities." He said, pointing to a list in really small font. "Half of them are related to art."

Naruto laughed. "You don't sound too excited about that."

"I've never been any good at drawing."

"There are other artsy things. Painting, sculpture, mixed media. You could be good at any of those." Naruto suggested, half smiling now. "Photography, pottery. This list is awesome. I'm going to have to try all of these at least once."

"Hn." Sasuke said, shrugging and flipping more pages. There were schedules for every week, and everything seemed pretty consistent. Group therapy, individual therapy, activities, meals, exercise blocks, etc. "I'll try pottery with you if you want."

Naruto smiled. "Sure. It's on Tuesdays and Thursdays from four to six."

Sasuke nodded. He scanned the list and circled a few random activities to keep him occupied. There was a poetry activity that he figured would be fine. "How do you feel about poetry?"

"The last time I wrote a poem was when I was twelve." Naruto said, somewhat distractedly.

"I'll ask Gaara if he wants to do that one with me." Sasuke said to himself.

"Do you exercise?" Naruto asked. "There are a shit-ton of sports and swimming activities."

"Not really."

"Ah." Naruto nodded, looking back down at the list. "Fine, I'll do poetry with you and Gaara."

"Good." Sasuke smirked.

Somebody knocked on the door and Sasuke stood up to get it after setting the binder down on the bed. Gaara and Kiba stood on the other side of it. Sasuke stepped aside and let them in. Kiba sat by Naruto and Gaara leaned against the wall by the window.

"Oh, you're picking activities?" Kiba asked, seemingly a little too interested in what Sasuke and Naruto were talking about.

"Yeah." Naruto nodded. "So far, we have pottery, and Gaara is going to do poetry with us."

Gaara's eyes widened, "I'm doing what now?"

"Do you want to come with us to the poetry activity?" Sasuke asked.

Gaara didn't pick his activities yet, and he figured he'd be more willing to go if he knew people who would be in the activity with him, so he agreed. "Sure, whatever."

"When are your individual therapy times?" Naruto closed his binder and looked at Kiba.

"2:00." Kiba answered. Gaara shrugged. "I think mine is at 10. What about you guys?"

"10:30."

"3:30." Naruto said again. "That's fine then, we'll all be able to make it to poetry. Every day from one to two. Are you in, Kiba?"

Kiba smiled, revealing all of his teeth. "Of course."

Iruka showed up in the doorway and looked at Gaara. "Hey it's good to have the four of you here. I need to ask something." He waited until he had everybody's attention, which was unnecessary because everybody was already looking at him. "Do any of you have piercings? We're going to need to get rid of them until the experiment is over."

Naruto immediately stood up and stuck his tongue out. With his tongue out, he asked, "Can't I leave this one in?"

Iruka shook his head. "Sorry, Naruto. There is no way to know how the medication will affect you, so just to be safe, we're going to need to take that out." Naruto pulled the piercing out and put it into his bag on the floor with his clothes. He glared at Iruka, and Iruka just stared blankly at him until the glare fell. "Thank you for your cooperation." He looked at Gaara, Kiba, and Sasuke next. "Do any of you have piercings?" Everyone shook their heads. "Good. Gaara, come with me."

Gaara pushed himself off of the wall and followed Iruka down to room 1-024.

* * *

**A/N:**

**Hey everybody. Just for convenience, I'll put the typical schedule for Iruka's group up for easy reference. I know it would suck to have to go back through all of those paragraphs to find what everybody is up to. I'm only going to keep track of Sasuke, Naruto, Gaara and Kiba for now. Here:**

**For Wednesdays (group therapy day):**

**8:00-9:00 AM – Breakfast**

**9:00-10:00 AM – Group therapy**

**10:00-12:00 PM – Individual therapy (Gaara's is from 10:00-10:30, Sasuke's is from 10:30-11:00)**

**12:00-1:00 PM – Lunch **

**1:00-4:00 PM – Individual therapy (Kiba's is from 2:00-2:30, Naruto's is from 3:30-4:00)**

**[while Individual therapy is going on, there are Activities running during the same time blocks]**

**4:00-7:00 PM – Activity block/Free time**

**7:00-8:00 PM – Dinner**

**8:00-10:00 PM – Free time**

**10:00 PM-8:00 AM – Sleep **

**For every day but Wednesday:**

**8:00-9:00 AM – Breakfast **

**9:00-10:00 AM – Activity block/Free time**

**10:00-12:00 PM – Individual therapy/Activity block/Free time**

**12:00-1:00 PM – Lunch**

**1:00-4:00 PM – Individual therapy/Activity block/Free time**

**5:00-7:00 PM – Activity block/Free time**

**7:00-8:00 PM – Dinner**

**8:00-10:00 PM – Free time**

**10:00 PM-8:00 AM – Sleep**

**Activities that are offered are typically half an hour or an hour long for activities that happen every day, with some being two hours long but that don't happen every day. **

**Also, Kiba and Naruto are the ones doing the medication, and Gaara and Sasuke are doing the deprivation studies. I don't know if that'll get confusing later on.**

* * *

Kiba stood up and walked to the door. "I'm getting a weird vibe from Iruka."

Naruto nodded and looked at Sasuke. "Us too. I guess we'll find out once we're alone in a room with him." He laughed. The other two boys looked at him strangely. "What?"

"Anyway, I'm going to wander around for a bit. I'll see you guys at lunch, okay?" Kiba said.

"Sounds good, Kiba." Naruto replied. Once Kiba was gone, Sasuke leaned back on his bed. The room was quiet for a while.

"This bed is very uncomfortable." He commented, to break the silence. Naruto tilted his head and lay on his bed the same way.

"I've slept in worse."

Sasuke stood up and stood by the side of Naruto's bed. "Let's switch and see which one is better."

"Who gets the better one?" Naruto got off of his bed and walked over to the other.

"I don't know, dobe." Sasuke said. "You'll have to fight me for it."

"Who are you calling 'dobe', teme?" Naruto said loudly, watching Sasuke lay down in the other bed.

"This one isn't much better…" Sasuke said. "Fuck mental hospitals and their shitty mattresses."

"I don't mind switching."

"Are you afraid you'll lose to me in a fight?"

"I hate fights." Naruto said, sitting on the edge of his new bed.

"Hn. Me too." Sasuke replied. He looked at the clock on the wall and sighed. "I should go soon."

Naruto looked up at the clock, it was 10:20. "Sure. I'll find Kiba."

"See you at lunch." Sasuke said, standing up and waving as he headed out the door.

Naruto reached down into his bag and stared at his tongue jewelry. "So unfair." He pouted.

* * *

Sasuke found room 1-024 easily, but had five more minutes to spare until he had his session. He couldn't hear anything through the door, so eavesdropping was no longer an option. Instead, he decided to walk down the hallway to see what was at the other end.

After maybe thirty feet, he literally ran into a young man with round glasses and grey hair, carrying tons of paperwork who came from an intersecting hallway. Consequently, the paperwork flew in the air and spread itself all over the floor, causing Sasuke to get a few paper cuts.

"I'm really sorry, I'll help pick these up." Sasuke rushed, dropping to the floor. The man with grey hair watched with amusement and dropped himself as well.

"You're one of the new ones, aren't you? Yeah you must be." The man said, pointing to the wristband. "Deprivation."

"Yeah." Sasuke replied. "Who are you?"

"Kabuto." He stuck his hand out in front of him and Sasuke shook it. As an afterthought, Kabuto added, "You look like the Uchiha."

"What?"

"Nothing." Kabuto said, realizing his mistake in mentioning that he knew who Sasuke was.

"Do you know other Uchihas?"

"I was… close with Itachi." Kabuto explained. "We had quite a few classes together, but then I got a job here, and things dissolved."

"Hn. Have you seen him recently?"

Kabuto shook his head and something flashed across his face. "I don't expect to see him again."

"Did something happen to him?" Sasuke rushed. He hadn't talked to his brother in two years, basically since he left for the university.

Kabuto's eyes widened at Sasuke's reaction, but then he laughed. "Relax, Sasuke."

Sasuke forced a laugh and nodded, handing Kabuto a bunch of papers from the floor. "I just haven't talked to him. There are things we need to talk about."

Kabuto didn't say anything for a few moments. "Well, I hope you find him." Kabuto smiled and stood up. "I'll see you around, Sasuke. Best of luck."

"Uh, thanks." Sasuke said, watching Kabuto quickly head off. He decided to go back the way he came, assuming it was time for his first therapy session.

He reached the room again right when Gaara was leaving. Gaara looked at him blankly before smiling a little. "Hey."

"Hey, how was it?"

"See for yourself." And he walked off.

Iruka came out of the room and saw Sasuke standing there. "Oh good, you're here already. Come in."

Sasuke went into the room and heard Iruka close the door. The room was small, almost the size of his and Naruto's room, and it had a bookshelf covering an entire wall, a desk and two chairs, one behind the desk and one on the other side. Iruka took his seat behind the desk, and Sasuke sat on the other chair. He scanned the book titles. "Not a lot of diversity on your bookshelf." He commented.

"Have you been to therapy before?"

Sasuke nodded. "As a kid, I used to go a few times a month."

"What for?"

Sasuke looked down. "Eating disorders."

"Do you still struggle with that?" Iruka asked, writing in a notebook on his clipboard. He looked up at Sasuke when he didn't reply. "Sasuke. Your contract requires full disclosure."

"I've been eating regularly." Sasuke responded flatly.

"I see." Iruka nodded. "Why do you think you had trouble eating?"

"Food was always a punishment. If I did something bad, like say something rude or forget to do chores, my father would either force me to eat too much food, or keep me from eating. He'd lock the cabinets in the kitchen so I couldn't get any food if I got hungry."

Iruka listened with his eyebrows knit together and he wrote more notes down.

"I got in trouble a lot for stupid things, so I figured it would be best if I just didn't eat anyway. That way, it wouldn't bother me as much when he decided I couldn't eat. And, if he made me eat, I'd throw everything up."

Iruka nodded. "Do you have siblings?"

"An older brother." Sasuke said, thanking the change in subject.

"Did he get the same treatment?" Sasuke frowned when the subject returned.

He shook his head. "He never got caught when he did bad things."

"Ah. Was your mother around?" Sasuke's eyes narrowed.

"She got sick when I was seven, and died when I was 11. My father died when I was 14, and I lived with my brother until I was 17." Sasuke recited.

"I see. After your father passed, did you get better control over your eating habits?"

"Of course. My brother cooked and made sure I ate every day."

"Did you ever throw up his meals?"

"Not often."

"But you have?"

"When I was mad at him, yeah. But as I just said, not often."

"What about him made you mad?"

"A lot of things." Sasuke said, "I don't want to list them right now."

Iruka smiled. "Fair enough. So tell me, when I say the word 'deprivation', what do you think of?"

"Being deprived of food or sleep."

"Alright. But I said earlier that the studies we are conducting for the next five months have to do with identity and personality. None of what you listed relates to identity or personality."

"Right." Sasuke replied. "So…?"

"I guess I'll be straightforward about it." Iruka decided. "What was the most unhappy time in your life that you can remember clearly? Tell me the age you were."

Sasuke barely hesitated. "Eleven."

Iruka nodded, "Your mother's death."

"What does that have to do with deprivation? You can't take my memories away." Sasuke snorted.

"What if I told you that we could?" Iruka leaned forward and laced his fingers together on top of his desk.

"That's impossible." Sasuke said dismissively. Iruka shook his head. "How much can you make people forget?" He asked quietly.

"As much as they want. We can target specific memories and times that somebody finds to be… hard to move on from. Abuse, rape, death, depression, anxiety, fear. Even specific people. All can be forgotten." Iruka shook his head. "Of course, we're still in beginning stages of developing this new procedure, but so far we have had great success in our work. 86% success rate, in fact. Many of our doctors are the best of the best, and the rest are training directly below the best. Bottom line, you will be happier, healthier, and unstoppable in pursuing your dreams."

"Why the interest in erasing people's memories?" Sasuke asked after studying Iruka's enthusiasm about the study. It made Sasuke nervous, but he kept his cool externally.

"It isn't about that, Sasuke." Iruka said. "If you could forget all of the bad experiences you had as a kid, everything between ages seven and fourteen, what your father did to you, how much your mother suffered, what ever your brother did to make you so mad at him, would you do it?"

Sasuke couldn't stop looking at Iruka's eyes. There was truth behind what he was saying, but there was also darkness. Did he want to forget?

"I'll need to think about this."

Iruka leaned back in his chair. "Of course, Sasuke. Time is almost up anyway." Sasuke looked up at the clock and noticed that they had two minutes left. "I'll see you at lunch." Iruka walked around the desk and opened the door. Sasuke walked out, genuine confusion gracing his features for the first time in years. Iruka took note and waved Sasuke off.

* * *

The cafeteria was painted the same blue color as the group therapy room, and Sasuke's mind was racing. Naruto joined him in line after a few minutes and greeted him with a smile. "Hey, Sasuke. How was therapy?"

"What?" Sasuke asked absently. "Oh. Good, I guess. I-I don't know what to think."

Naruto waved his hand in front of Sasuke's face, since he wasn't really looking at him. Once their eyes met, Naruto became concerned. "What the hell happened?"

"I just have a lot on my mind." Sasuke said. "Can you do me a favor and hit me?"

"What?" Naruto yelled. "Why do you want me to hit you?" Some of the people around them looked over.

"It'll help, just do it." Sasuke growled. He closed his eyes and waited for Naruto. "Come on, dobe."

"I told you, don't call me that." Naruto replied. "But if you insist, teme." The cafeteria immediately fell silent as the back of Naruto's hand made contact with Sasuke's face.

"I said hit me, not slap me!" Sasuke yelled. "That barely hurt."

"I did hit you, it was the back of my hand!" Naruto yelled back.

Iruka approached them, trying to hide his laughter. "Can you two quiet down?"

Sasuke's half red face and Naruto's scarred one turned to Iruka and nodded. "Sorry, Iruka."

"It's quite alright." He replied, making more notes on his clipboard.

"I wonder what he wrote down." Naruto said, stepping forward in the line.

"Probably 'Naruto bitch-slapped Sasuke in the cafeteria line. I wonder if he was physically abused as a child. I will ask him during therapy later' or something like that." Sasuke smirked.

"Oh shut up, teme."

* * *

Naruto wandered toward room 1-024 after taking a short nap in his room. Sasuke had acted strangely at lunch, and he couldn't figure out why. He probably shouldn't have hit Sasuke, even though he asked for it. _Why would he ask for that anyway?_ Naruto looked down at his hand and noticed his knuckles were beginning to bruise. _How did that not hurt him? _

He stopped in front of the door and knocked. It took a minute before Iruka opened the door. There had been somebody else in the room with him, the same man with the forehead protector. "I'll speak with you later, Yamato." Iruka said as Yamato walked off. "Come in, Naruto."

"Aren't you supposed to be having individual therapy sessions until four?" Naruto asked, taking a seat in one of the chairs.

"The 3:00-3:30 time slot was Micah Izzari's, but he's still occupied."

"Wasn't he supposed to be with Yamato? He wasn't with him just then. Neither was the other guy."

Iruka pursed his lips. "Yamato was letting me know that they are both still occupied. Let's move on." Iruka took out his pen and opened up to an information page on his clipboard. "Naruto Uzumaki. Age 19. Mount Myoboku." He flipped to a blank piece of paper for notes and looked up. "I'm sorry about the tongue piercing." Iruka smiled.

"Don't worry about it." Naruto replied. Iruka's smile faded a bit.

"So, why did you hit Sasuke at lunch?"

"He asked me to. I don't know. He said, 'I have a lot on my mind, do me a favor and hit me.' So I did." Naruto explained. Iruka laughed.

"That's weird."

"You're telling me. He's been acting strange since his therapy session."

Iruka nodded. "Understandable."

"What happened?"

"I'm afraid I can't tell you. Therapy sessions tend to be confidential."

Naruto pouted. "Oh. Figures."

"Have you been in therapy before?"

"Nope."

"Okay. Did you have a good childhood?"

Naruto smiled. "Yeah, I suppose it was pretty great."

Iruka jotted something down. "Tell me about your family."

"Well, my parents passed away right after I was born, so I lived with my godfather for a while. But then he had to leave when I was ten, so I started living with my friend, and now we're at the same college."

Iruka looked up, "That's what you consider 'pretty great'? Didn't you get upset that your godfather left?"

Naruto shook his head. "It was something he needed to do, and I understood that both then and now."

"Do you talk to him frequently?"

Naruto shook his head again. "I haven't heard from him for years. I figured he's off doing great things."

"Do you know if he's alive?"

This time, Naruto frowned. "No, but I can feel that he is, so I don't worry."

Iruka paused and wrote for a minute. Naruto cleared his throat and Iruka took his eyes off of his notes. "What is your friend like?"

"The one I lived with?"

"Yes."

Naruto beamed. "He's really fun. He likes explosions, so most of our teenage years were spent finding things to blow up. He also likes art, so we did a bunch of photography, drawing and painting. You can probably guess his pictures were mainly of explosions."

Iruka's eyes widened with concern. "Did you ever get hurt?"

"A few times, but nothing bad." Naruto stood up and took his shirt off, revealing a huge burn mark that spanned most of his back. He let Iruka look at it for a minute before putting his shirt back on. "That was the worst one."

"'Nothing bad'? Holy shit, Naruto, have you even seen that burn mark?" Iruka exclaimed.

Naruto laughed but his smile faded when he replied flatly. "Of course I've seen it. It was worth it."

* * *

**A/N:**

**Yay chapter 3 complete! I'll put chapter 4 up within the next few days.**

**Reviews are always welcome and they make me happy and motivated to write more. Thanks! :D**

**(Also, Sasuke didn't see the burn mark on Naruto's back earlier in the story because he was facing the wall, not Naruto.)**


	4. Chapter 4

"You aren't quite what I expected"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, you didn't know your parents and your guardian left you. Normal reactions to that kind of stuff would be anger or denial, but you act like none of that has bothered you at all."

"Oh." Naruto paused, "It does bother me at times, but I understand why all of it had to happen."

Iruka returned to taking notes. "Alright. Do you have any experiences you consider traumatic? Something that truly affected you, maybe something you didn't understand?"

Naruto started to shake his head but his entire body stiffened as his eyes saw the painting behind Iruka's head. The painting was of the city he and Deidara had grown up in, Amegakure. **(1)**. Naruto immediately felt a weight surrounding him.

"Naruto, are you okay?" Iruka looked behind him to see what had caught Naruto's attention, and when he turned back around, he noticed that Naruto's eyes had gotten considerably darker. Iruka waved his hand in front of Naruto's face, but there was no reaction to it. His breathing had gone down to a steady and slow pace, and his shoulders slumped slightly.

Iruka checked the clock a few times as he waited to see if Naruto would get out of what ever trance he was in on his own. Three minutes passed, and then five, and then eight. Iruka started getting worried, seeing as the only comforting fact in this situation was that Naruto was still blinking.

"Naruto?" Iruka tried again. He leaned forward slowly. "What's going on?"

Naruto jumped before Iruka could finish his question, which sent Iruka jumping back as well. Naruto's breathing got heavy and he felt his heart rate climb as he looked around the room. Once he caught his breath he let out a stressed, "What?" and forced a laugh. "That hasn't happened in a while." He seemed to have returned to normal, if his eye color and posture were anything to go by.

"What… happened?" Iruka asked hesitantly.

"I don't know. I completely zoned out." Naruto shrugged.

"That's obvious!" Iruka exclaimed, but toned it down as he continued talking. "Where were you?"

"That, uh, that painting is of the town I used to live in." Naruto hesitantly looked back up at the painting, but he didn't have the same reaction to it. He sunk into the chair with relief.

"But you're from Mount Myoboku, Naruto." Iruka tilted his head.

Naruto shook his head and pointed. "I only lived in Mount Myoboku until I was ten, and then I started living with my friend in Amegakure. I always got lost downtown." He laughed a bit and it didn't sound forced like earlier.

Iruka watched Naruto's arm fall to his side before asking, "Did something happen there?"

Naruto half smiled and scratched the back of his head. "It's four already, Iruka. The session is over."

Iruka nearly glared at the clock. He was so close to having the information he wanted. He chewed the inside of his cheek and nodded at Naruto. "Alright, you can go." Before Iruka could open the door himself like he did for Sasuke, Naruto was speeding out of the room.

He took long strides down the hallway and headed back up to the second floor to his and Sasuke's room. Naruto found the room with some difficulty, but he found it nonetheless. Sasuke wasn't in the room. Naruto closed the door behind him and sat down on the floor between the beds and under the window. "Goddamn it."

* * *

Naruto had twenty minutes alone in the room before Sasuke showed up. He hadn't moved until he glanced up at Sasuke. "Oh, great you're here. I—" Sasuke walked toward Naruto and then sat down across from him. "I guess therapy didn't go well?"

Naruto shook his head and half smiled, "It isn't that."

Sasuke waited for Naruto to continue but he didn't. "Then what? Your eyes are really bloodshot."

"I'll be fine." Naruto stood up. "Have you seen Gaara or Kiba around?"

Sasuke nodded, rising to his feet as well, "They've been in the courtyard all day. Do you want to go meet up with them?"

"Yeah."

Sasuke and Naruto walked quietly down to the first floor and down the long hallway. They passed room 1-024 and followed the hallway to the very end. There were sliding doors at the end that led to a large green area, maybe the size of two and a half soccer fields, with assorted flowers and benches bordering it. The entire space was enclosed by the building, and the sun had already passed overhead but the courtyard was still blanketed in its warmth.

After Naruto admired the layout for a minute, he spotted Gaara and Kiba off to the side sitting on a bench. Sasuke had already started heading toward them, so Naruto did a slow jog up to Sasuke.

"I'm already feeling better." Naruto said as they approached the other two boys.

"Good." Sasuke turned to the other boys, holding his hand out to motion to Naruto. "Hey Kiba. Gaara. I found Naruto."

Kiba grinned, "Finally, jeez, why didn't you come here sooner? You've been done for almost half an hour."

"I'm here now." Naruto replied. "What are we going to do now?"

"Soccer!" Kiba jumped up from the bench and reached under it for a soccer ball. He dropped it by Naruto's feet. "Come on!"

Naruto and Kiba started heading toward the center of the grass where there was a large area of unoccupied grass, and Gaara followed reluctantly. Sasuke was last in joining them but it took only a few minutes for them to gather other patients and start a very intense game in the courtyard.

* * *

Iruka took the elevator up to the third floor and passed room 3-A, avoiding looking inside because 1) he already knew what was inside, and 2) he knew what would happen if Orochimaru discovered a trespasser. Yamato and Kabuto were the only two Orochimaru trusted around his patients. Those two and Tsunade, but Tsunade rarely leaves her garden these days.

Iruka suppressed a shiver as he entered room 3-F, joining the other group leaders in a circle of chairs. There were ten group leaders total, and Iruka took his place to the left of Kakashi and to the right of Sakura. To the left of Sakura, there was Kurenai, Neji, Asuma, Genma, Shizune, Hidan and Konan.

Standing behind and to the right of the group leaders were the assistants, all recent university graduates. Behind Iruka, Kakashi, Sakura, Kurenai, Neji, Asuma, Genma, Shizune, Hidan and Konan, were Sidney, Hannah, Peter, Zabuza, Ronnie, Will, Tara, Eli, Kakuzu and Mia, respectively.

Kakashi sent Iruka a bored look, before he stood up and began the meeting. "Now that everybody is here, we can start." Iruka sensed a few people turn to look at him, and he looked down at his lap until he felt comfortable enough to look up again. "Did everybody get their participants settled in to their rooms alright? No problems with the personal items they brought with them?"

Everybody nodded at Kakashi, and he continued. "Now, did everybody get a visit from Yamato with the List?"

Iruka looked around the room, confused that all of them nodded. "He took two of mine. Who didn't see Yamato?"

Kakashi raised his hand, "I still have all ten." He noticed Iruka's hurt facial expression. "It's more free time for you, Iruka, I don't see what you're complaining about."

Iruka stayed silent, resorting to only thinking cruel words of Kakashi instead of screaming them at him. The bastard.

Kakashi looked at him smugly before turning to the rest of the room. "Everyone understands that these kids have a week of getting used to the schedule before the medication starts and the deprivation process begins."

"Don't call them kids, Kakashi." Shizune warned. "That doesn't help the situation."

"It doesn't matter what we call them." Neji commented, giving Shizune an unreadable look. "The study they signed up for says five months, but how long will they actually last? The last group fell apart within the first few weeks of the study. Every single one of them. Those selected for the List lasted less than a week."

"It was a bad batch of medication. Tsunade made this batch much better." Sakura replied. Neji turned his attention to her and Sakura blushed. "As for the List, I have no comments. Once they go to the fourth floor, it isn't our concern."

"What about this batch is different, Haruno?" Neji retorted.

"I don't have details. I have faith."

Hidan smirked. "I must inform you that your faith in Tsunade's methods isn't going to save these kids."

"You all need to shut up." Kakashi said. He smiled as he said it, but the tone was deadly. It certainly did the job, as the room fell quiet within seconds. "Your job is to conduct research, not worry over stupid stuff you can't control. That goes for assistants too." He eyed the assistants, all feeling slightly sick to their stomachs. "Interfere and you will be sent to the fourth floor."

The threat earned nods of understanding. Kakashi continued. "I'm glad we understand. The first week is always the hardest for you all, but let me remind you. The routine will set in before you know it, and you will fall into your proper places. Just like before."

Yamato entered the room shortly after Kakashi finished speaking, waving at the group before setting his eyes firmly on Kakashi. "Tsunade needs you now."

Kakashi's smile faded and he left the room with a, "Best of luck this week. I'll call a meeting within the next few days."

* * *

Kakashi entered the fourth floor with confidence, but it faltered once he stepped inside the library. The room had only a few of its lights on, giving the bookshelves dramatic shadowing, but Kakashi put one foot in front of the other and knocked on Tsunade's bedroom door.

"Scan your card, whoever you are." Tsunade said from inside. Kakashi scanned his card and entered. "Oh, Kakashi. I'm glad Yamato found you."

"What do you need me for?"

"I need your help with Jiraiya." Tsunade sighed.

Kakashi was caught completely off guard. Tsunade never asked anybody other than Orochimaru to help with Jiraiya. Not even him, even though he was the third closest to her. "E-excuse me?"

"I want you to visit him and then tell me what you think we should do." Tsunade's voice trembled a bit. "I've lost confidence in myself. My decisions haven't made much progress." She walked over to Kakashi. "But, you. _You, _Kakashi."

"I could be wrong."

"I don't care if you're wrong. I need your opinion. As my friend, please do it for me. I've already upgraded your card, you can get through any door in the building now."

Kakashi stared into her pleading eyes and eventually nodded. "I will do my best."

"Thank you, Kakashi."

He turned and left the room, went down the spiral staircase, and found himself standing in front of the door to Jiraiya's room. Tsunade said that he could go in. _How long had it been since he saw Jiraiya? _Kakashi shook his head, reminding himself that now was not the time to get nostalgic.

He scanned his card and opened the door.

* * *

Sasuke was sitting on the floor in his and Naruto's room, and he glanced up at the clock. It was 10:47, which according to the schedule in his binder was 17 minutes past the time they were supposed to be asleep. He wasn't tired at all, despite the kind of day he had, what with the therapy and the seemingly endless soccer practice.

Naruto, however, was laying in his and had been asleep for at least an hour. The room was dark except for the dull light of the moon and stars coming in through the window, which Sasuke discovered overlooked the courtyard.

Naruto shifted to his other side and he opened his eyes. Once he saw Sasuke sitting on the floor, he propped himself up on his elbow. "What are you doing?"

Sasuke kept his eyes on the window. "Thinking. Go back to sleep."

"You'll get used to the mattress." Naruto reassured him.

"What did Iruka tell you during your therapy session?" Sasuke asked, ignoring Naruto's previous statement.

Naruto swung his legs around and lowered himself onto the floor across from Sasuke. He rubbed his eyes. "He didn't really say much. I zoned out for part of it." Naruto laughed lazily. "Why, what did he tell you?"

"He told me that…" He paused. "It's stupid. I'm sure he's just trying to freak me out. We're in a mental hospital after all." Sasuke laughed at himself.

"You obviously want to talk about it, so go ahead." Naruto said. "If not, I'm going back to sleep."

"No, don't. Okay. I'll say it." Naruto waited. "He wants me to choose a memory, a person, or a time in my life that I want to forget."

"So?"

Sasuke continued. "And he said that they can erase it from my memory."

"Like, through hypnosis?" Naruto said, mockingly. "If they can get memories back through that, they can push the memories away. Is it like that?"

"I don't think so, Naruto. That's the thing." Sasuke's voice got deeper. "I'm completely convinced that what he's saying is true, but I don't know how he would do it."

"Torture." Naruto replied flatly. Sasuke's eyes widened immediately. Naruto then laughed. "Sasuke, you're making a big deal out of it."

"I don't think I am."

"You're so paranoid." Naruto replied.

The room was quiet until Naruto's curiosity got the better of him. "Assuming it's true, what would you choose to forget?" His smile was gone.

Sasuke shrugged. "I don't know. I have to think of something before I see him tomorrow for therapy."

"Huh." Naruto said. "Well, tell me before you tell him." He moved back up to lay in his bed.

"Why?"

"Because I want to know before you forget what it is." Naruto half smiled, but he started to get a weird feeling.

* * *

**A/N:**

**I know I left you all hanging again when Kakashi entered Jiraiya's room, but I have a special plan for that reveal. Stay tuned!**

**Also, the deal with Kakashi and Iruka is just that Kakashi likes messing with him and reminding him that he's more powerful than Iruka.**

**Reviews are awesome! Let me know what you think! :D**

**(1) Amegakure is the Village Hidden in Rain.**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Hey everybody! Sorry this update has taken a little longer than the previous ones. I'll do my best to get the chapters up faster. Thanks for your patience! As a treat, I've included some flashbacks for both Naruto and Sasuke :D**

**I do not own Naruto.**

**Warning: From here on out, I'm going to be adding flashbacks to the chapters. I'll go ahead and say that both Naruto and Sasuke were abused as kids, Naruto physically, and Sasuke emotionally. I'm not planning on being graphic with Naruto's physical abuse, but I will be writing about it because it's important for both character development and for when the medication/deprivation stuff starts messing with their heads. Flashbacks are in italics. **

* * *

"You look like you didn't sleep at all last night, Sasuke." Naruto commented as he, Sasuke, Gaara, Kiba and the rest of their group followed Iruka down to room 1-013 for their first group therapy meeting.

"I didn't." Sasuke confirmed. His eyes had circles under them, but they were only noticeable if you looked for them, which Naruto did.

"Did you figure out what you want to forget?" Despite the fact that Sasuke and Naruto were at the back of the line, that question immediately got Iruka's attention.

"Almost. I got a tie."

"Between what?"

"I don't want to say it where people can hear. It requires a lot of storytelling." Sasuke dismissed. "Our room after group therapy." He added quietly. Iruka frowned.

They sat around the table in generally the same way as they did the day before. From the left of Iruka: Sasuke, Naruto, Kiba, Gaara, Ari, Danny and Frederick. Ari kept eyeing Kiba's tattoos, but Kiba didn't notice.

Iruka looked at each of them. "We'll begin by introducing ourselves. We didn't get so far yesterday because I had to pass out the binders. Naruto, you can start, and we'll go around the table and end with Sasuke."

Naruto looked up. "What should I say?"

Iruka tapped the table with his fingers and then decided. "Name, age, hometown, major." He paused, "Likes and dislikes. And last, who you grew up with."

"Ah." Naruto nodded. He repeated Iruka's list in his head and smiled at the people in the group. "I'm Naruto, age 19. I'm from Mount Myoboku, but I moved to Amegakure when I was ten. I'm double majoring in Film Studies and Communications. I like ramen. I don't like fights. I grew up with my friend, Deidara, and um…" Naruto paused, editing in his head. He shook his head. "Just him."

Iruka nodded, wrote something down, and looked at Kiba.

"I'm Kiba. I'm 18. My hometown is Konohagakure. I'm, ah, undecided with my major. I like sports. I don't like the rain. I grew up with my mom and sister." Kiba said, nodding at Iruka when he was done. Naruto tilted his head a little at the 'I don't like the rain' comment, and noted it for some reason he didn't know.

"I'm Gaara, age 20. I'm from Sunagakure. I'm a German language major, with a minor in History. I like beaches but I don't like water. I grew up with my sister in a series of foster homes."

"How does that work?" Naruto asked, confused. Everybody else was equally confused. "Without water, all beaches have is sand."

"Yeah." Gaara nodded.

"Okay… Ari?" Iruka said, eager to move on.

"My name is embarrassing, so I go by Ari. I'm 18, from Hoshigakure. I've lived here my whole life with my mom, dad, and three sisters. My major is Sociology. I like skateboarding and basically any activity on wheels, and I don't like cooking." Ari explained. Iruka nodded and looked at Danny and Frederick next.

"I'm Danny, age 19, and I'm also from Konohagakure. I'm majoring in English. I like fishing with my grandpa. I also like swimming, and have done that for school every year since 7th grade. I don't like primary colors or bad music. I live with my dad and we have a few cats and dogs."

"I'm Freddy, age 21. I'm also from here, and I've known Ari for a while. I dated two of his sisters back in high school." Frederick laughed lightly, and Ari sunk into his seat. "I'm majoring in Biology. I like running and football, and I don't like things that keep me from running. I grew up with my parents, and they got divorced a decade ago. I grew up as an only child, but I have some half siblings now that both of my parents remarried."

Iruka nodded and introduced himself. "I'm Iruka, obviously. My age and information about my family is irrelevant. I am from Konohagakure, but came to Hoshigakure to study Psychology and Sociology, and have studied both up to a Master's level. I like music and reading, and I dislike windy days." After he finished, he looked at Sasuke.

"I'm Sasuke, age 18. I'm a History major from Konohagakure. I like traveling, but I don't like airports. I grew up with my brother. Both of my parents died." Sasuke looked up when he was done.

Iruka spoke again, "Alright. Now that we've all been introduced, it's time to split up into pairs and do an activity. We have eight people including me, so somebody will be paired with me." Iruka scanned the group and nodded at Naruto. "Naruto's with me. Sasuke is with Ari. Kiba is with Frederick, and Gaara is with Danny. Move around until you're sitting by your partner."

The new seating arrangement was, from the left of Iruka: Naruto, Sasuke, Ari, Gaara, Danny, Kiba, and Frederick. "The activity goes like this." Iruka stood up and reached into a bookshelf in the corner of the room, eight whiteboards and sixteen markers. He handed a black marker and a red marker to each person before a whiteboard, and sat down when everybody had one. He pulled four of the five small boxes from the same shelf and set them on the table between each pair.

"Each pair will have a set of words on the pieces of paper that you will draw out of this box. Each topic gets two minutes, and within those two minutes you can choose to draw, on the whiteboards, what comes to mind, or you can talk, not using the whiteboards, about what comes to mind. This is a forty-minute activity, so you will have twenty topics. It is alright to alternate between talking and drawing, and it is alright to focus on one word instead of all of them, if it's overwhelming."

"I'll keep time with this timer." He pulled a timer from the pocket of his shirt and held it up. "Between each turn, set the used topic next to the box, and don't pull out a new topic until I start the timer. Both people need to see the topic, and both need to respond, so you each have a minute to share."

Iruka set his timer, and looked at Naruto. "Ready?" Naruto nodded, and Iruka saw everybody else around the table nodded as well. "Go." He smirked.

Naruto pulled a little piece of paper from the box, unfolded it, and held it up. "Lie, lying, dishonest, untruth." He read aloud.

"Draw or talk?" Iruka asked.

Naruto shrugged. "Talk."

"Go ahead." Iruka encouraged.

Sasuke watched Ari pull out a piece of paper. "Love, heart, infatuation, lust."

"I'll draw." Sasuke said, thinking: _There's no way in hell that I'd talk about 'love' with this weird kid._

Ari nodded and began drawing on his whiteboard as well.

"It's easy to tell when somebody is lying to me." Naruto began. "But only when I've known them for a while. I always know when Deidara lies, and when my godfather lied. Maybe that was because they never did it often. They are also really bad at it."

"Did you know anybody who constantly lied to you?" Iruka asked, interrupting Naruto.

"… yeah. Everybody else." Naruto nodded, ignoring his inner editor. "This one guy who Deidara and I lived with—"

"There was somebody other than your friend that you lived with?" Iruka unintentionally interrupted. He recalled when Naruto stumbled over the end of his introduction.

"We were kids, we couldn't live by ourselves."

"Was it a woman or a man?"

Naruto gulped, suddenly getting nervous. "A man."

"What's his name?"

"I always called him 'Sir' so I don't…" Naruto trailed off. He remembered the name because it was carved into his skin, but he didn't want to tell Iruka. The creepy vibe he was getting from Iruka intensified when the attention was focused entirely on him.

The timer went off as countless questions popped up in Iruka's mind. He had no idea why he was so interested in Naruto. For some reason, he couldn't stop thinking about him. It was slightly concerning, but Iruka learned a long time ago not to ignore his instincts. Iruka had a feeling that he was on the verge of discovering something that would put Kakashi's name to shame.

The timer went off and Iruka stored his questions away to address the group.

"Round two, go." Iruka said distractedly. Sasuke looked over at Naruto and Iruka, having heard the previous conversation. He turned back to face Ari, who was waiting for Sasuke to draw a new topic. "Belief, words, soul, Earth."

Naruto read Iruka's and his new topic, "Popular, often, routine, schedule."

"What's his name?" Iruka picked up where they left off before.

"It's a new topic." Naruto waved the paper in the air, calling Iruka's attention to it.

"It isn't, really." Iruka sounded frustrated.

"Are you okay, Iruka?"

"No." Iruka glared.

"Why are you glaring at me?"

"You aren't telling me his name. You obviously remember it. You aren't a good liar, either, Naruto." Iruka said, toning his voice back to sound more relaxed.

"I am not a liar!" Naruto said loudly. Everybody looked over.

"Are you okay, Naruto?" Sasuke asked.

"Iruka's mad at me, but I didn't do anything. What crawled up your ass today?" Naruto replied at normal volume. Some of the guys chuckled at Naruto's response, but Iruka didn't. He watched Naruto with a look between anger and satisfaction.

"It was a misunderstanding." Iruka said. Everyone nodded after a few seconds and went back to their partners. "Round three. Go."

Naruto looked back at Iruka, who was smiling but his eyes were still angry for some reason.

"What's up with you, Iruka?" Naruto asked.

Iruka grabbed a new slip of paper and read aloud. "Unfamiliar, discover, uncertainty, new." He set it down. "From now on, let's just draw what we're thinking. I'm feeling a bit off today."

* * *

Naruto was the first to leave the group therapy room, but Iruka held Sasuke back until after everybody else had left. He closed the door and looked at Sasuke. "I heard that you still haven't made a final decision."

Sasuke raised his eyebrow, "What?"

"I heard you talking to Naruto earlier."

"How? We weren't walking anywhere near you." Sasuke thought aloud.

Iruka waved him off. "Look, I have an offer. You can switch your therapy time from 10:00 to 3:00. The Izzari twins aren't coming back, so you can have that spot if you want. I'm thinking it will be more beneficial to have a break between group and individual therapy."

"What happened to them?" Sasuke asked.

"They went home." Iruka shrugged. "I don't know."

"What do you mean you don't know?"

"This isn't about them, it's about you. Do you want the switch?" Iruka said, organizing the whiteboards and markers on the shelf in the corner.

Sasuke nodded, "Sure."

"Good. Now, go catch up with Naruto. I'm sure you have a lot to talk about." Iruka turned to face Sasuke and nodded him off.

* * *

Naruto was waiting for Sasuke in their room, but it was after ten before he knew it, so he figured that Sasuke couldn't make it upstairs between group and individual therapy. He headed toward the courtyard and ran into Sasuke on the stairs.

"Shouldn't you be in individual therapy right now?" Naruto asked.

"Iruka changed my time slot to the one right before yours." Sasuke replied. "Where are you headed?"

Naruto stopped walking and turned to Sasuke. "The courtyard. Want to come with?"

"Yeah, might as well." They walked down to the courtyard, which was emptier than it was the day before, and they chose to sit on one of the benches close to the cafeteria.

"I didn't see you at breakfast this morning." Naruto commented as he took a seat.

"I slept in." Sasuke said.

"Aren't you hungry? I'm sure we can get food or something. It's not even ten thirty."

"I'm not." Sasuke replied.

"Okay." Naruto nodded. "So, what have you been thinking about?"

Sasuke looked at him strangely and then decided it would be better to have his eyes at the ground as he explained. "I don't want to forget anything. I know I have to pick something because that's what I signed up for, but I can't think of anything that I truly want to forget. I'll forget what ever I learned from the experience, you know?"

"Yeah?" Naruto replied.

"Plus, if it's an entire person that I want to forget, say my brother or my father, then it wont just be about me anymore. They'll lose me too. I wont remember the relationships I've always had, and that'll affect the relationships I make in the future. I'll keep making mistakes." Sasuke shut his eyes. "It's hard to think that I'll be better off without the memories."

* * *

_**Flashback – Naruto (11 years old)**_

_Naruto wandered through downtown Amegakure in the pouring rain, bumping into a few people. He was starting to get nervous, having lost sight of Deidara. He pulled his dark red raincoat closer to himself, he looked up and tried to see the names of the streets. However, it didn't work because he was so short compared to everybody else on the street, so all he could see was faces. _

_He tried a different approach: heading into the nearest store to find a phone to call home. He wound up in a drug store, and found a phone near the bathrooms and drinking fountains in the back corner. He stuck a few coins and dialed the number._

"_Hello?" A man answered._

"_I lost Deidara on the street. I don't know where I am." Naruto explained, sounding panicked and he tried hard not to cry._

"_Naruto? Shit. Which store are you calling from?" The man immediately asked. Naruto heard some ruffling on the other side of the line._

"_I don't know." Naruto bit his lip. "Let me ask." Naruto set the phone down and headed toward the guy behind the counter. "What store is this?" Naruto asked shakily._

"_Corner Market on 15__th__ and Bali Avenue." The man replied, "Are you okay, kid?"_

"_Someone's coming to get me." Naruto nodded and rushed back to the phone. "Corner Market on 15__th__ and Bali Avenue." Naruto repeated into the phone._

"_Alright, wait there." The man hung up and Naruto set the phone back on the wall. He started feeling a little relieved, and decided to look through the aisles as he waited for his guardian to show up. While he was looking in the candy aisle, Deidara came out of nowhere and hugged Naruto from the back._

"_I'm glad you're okay, Naru, un."_

"_I called home." Naruto said, turning around. Guilt was spread across his face, but Deidara nodded in understanding._

"_It'll be fine. You did the right thing, un." Deidara assured Naruto, aware that he was breaking a rule by lying to his young friend. Bringing their guardian into this wasn't going to end well. _

_Maybe ten minutes later, a man with many piercings on his nose, lips and ears walked through the door and found Naruto with a few packs of ramen in his arms and Deidara looking at the art supplies with more disappointment than interest._

"_Naruto, put the ramen back." The man ordered. He muttered to himself. "Greedy kid."_

"_Come on, just one!" Naruto held up._

"_No, we have enough at home." Naruto looked at the floor, defeated, and set the ramen back on the shelf. "Don't just shove them back, organize them like they were before you grabbed them." Naruto nodded and organized them so they looked neat like everything else on the shelf. "Good boy."_

_Deidara grabbed Naruto's hand and followed the man toward the door. The man stopped at the cashier. "I apologize if they were any trouble."_

"_Not at all, sir." The man behind the counter smiled and waved them off._

_The man led Deidara and Naruto down a few streets before heading up several flights of stairs on the fire escape. They stopped on the seventh floor and they jumped into the room through the window. _

"_What did I tell you boys about going downtown? You never fucking listen, do you?" The man started to yell after he shut the window behind him. The reason they had to come in through the window was because the stairs were closed off after a woman committed suicide by throwing herself down the staircase. _

"_You know you always get lost. Do you want to be picked up by some creep? There are a lot of men who would be happy to take you away from me, but I doubt you would like them as much as me." The man walked over to Naruto and raised his hand across his chest and then above his head._

"_It was my fault." Deidara rushed, stepping in front of Naruto. "I should be more responsible, un."_

"_Is that so?" the man smirked. "Why must you always cover up for Naruto?"_

"_Because I don't want you to hurt him for my mistake, un." Deidara replied quietly, bowing his head._

"_What makes you think I hurt him? I'm teaching him a lesson." The man spoke with mocking curiosity, looking over at Naruto. "You've been lying to your best friend, Naruto. Haven't you?"_

"_I don't lie." Naruto replied. The next five seconds were a blur, but soon both Deidara and Naruto were knocked to the ground._

"_Oh, then is Deidara the one lying?"_

"_No, un." Deidara shook his head._

"_One of you has to be lying." The man looked down expectantly at each of them but the boys didn't respond. "Fine. I'm trying to teach you about responsibility, but since neither of you are willing to be straightforward with me..." _

_The man dragged Naruto into the other room, slammed the door, locked it and left Deidara powerless on the floor to listen to what would happen next. _

* * *

Sasuke and Naruto walked into the lunch room after spending a couple of hours in the courtyard. Sasuke was hovering a little close to Naruto because of his nerves about having to talk to Iruka later, and Naruto tried to prevent Sasuke's nervousness from rubbing off on him.

Iruka stepped in line behind them, much to Sasuke's displeasure and Naruto's further discomfort. "Hey boys, good day so far?" Iruka greeted.

Sasuke didn't look at him, and instead stepped ahead in line. Naruto smiled at Iruka. "Yeah, it's alright."

"What's up with Sasuke?" Iruka asked, leaning to the side to see Sasuke, now hiding behind Naruto.

"Too much thinking." Naruto replied, smile falling.

"Well I look forward to hearing about it later." Iruka smiled and caught Sasuke's eyes.

* * *

_**Flashback – Sasuke (11 years old)**_

_Sasuke stared at the dinner plate in front of him, and then he looked back up to his father, Fugaku. Itachi sat across from Sasuke and also looked over at Fugaku._

"_What are you waiting for, Sasuke?" Fugaku asked, the corner of his lip turning up. "It's a family dinner, you should eat."_

_Sasuke nodded, but didn't pick up his fork. He looked at the food like it was going to attack him._

"_What's wrong? Do you not like the meal I cooked?" Fugaku asked. "It sure isn't as good as your mother's cooking, I know, but I still worked very hard on it." He smiled sadly and kept his eyes on Sasuke._

_Sasuke stood up silently and left the room. Itachi watched him walk away. Fugaku shared glances with Itachi. "Go see what's wrong with him." He ordered, taking a bite of his food. He watched Itachi leave after Sasuke, and ate by himself. _

_Itachi walked into his brother's room and shut the door behind him. "Sasuke, why didn't you eat?"_

"_You're kidding." Sasuke replied monotonously. "You know I can't eat around him."_

"_Why not?"_

"_He'll poison me. You heard him, he cooked it himself." Sasuke replied, rushing to the other side of the room. He scanned his bookshelf for a book to read. He needed to get away for a while._

"_I'll bring you my food. He wouldn't put anything in mine." Itachi turned to the door, but whipped back around. Sasuke was glaring at him. "I didn't mean it like that."_

"_Fuck off, Itachi."_

"_You're eleven, Sasuke, don't talk to me that way."_

"_Mom's dying." Sasuke whispered, pulling a book from the shelf. He ignored Itachi now, even though he hadn't left the room yet. Itachi paused, listening to Sasuke sniffle as he turned a few pages to find the spot he had left off in his book. _

_He figured it would be best if he left the room. By the time he returned to the dining table, the plates were cleared and Fugaku was in the kitchen doing dishes._

"_I was going to eat with you when I got back, Father." Itachi said, stepping next to Fugaku and helping out with the dishes._

"_Itachi… I can't do this right now." Fugaku sighed harshly and dried his hands on the towel by the sink and left the room. Itachi nodded to himself after the room was quiet for a while. He turned the faucet on and finished up the dishes. _

_As he headed back down the hallway to his room, he stopped by Sasuke's door and heard him sobbing. He opened the door slightly and saw his brother with his book on his face, and his body shaking violently under his covers as he wept. The light from the lamp on his bedside table was still on, and the tears pooled around Sasuke's neck._

_Itachi shut the door behind him, and lowered himself onto the floor with his back against the wall. He shut his eyes and let a few tears fall down his own face, thinking he could take some of Sasuke's pain away with the action. _

* * *

**A/N: Yay flashbacks! It's my first time writing a Fanfic, and the first time for me writing flashbacks in a Fanfic, so let me know what you think. Reviews are always welcome! They'll keep me writing :D**

**I know five chapters is a little excessive for getting into the study, but I promise that chapter six will have more interesting stuff going on. **


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